Microsoft ASP.NET e-commerce platform
Ultimate flexibility to meet complex needs of enterprise companies
Microsoft provides a technology stack for the development of enterprise-class business solutions. However, most other ASP.NET e-commerce solutions developed with Microsoft .NET are designed for small businesses. They do not support B2B functionality, and their architecture does not fit the complex needs of enterprise and mid-market companies.
Virto Commerce is different: it is the leading Microsoft e-commerce platform, built on .NET, and its open design provides ultimate flexibility to meet the complex needs of enterprise companies.
Common issues with other Microsoft ASP.NET e-commerce platforms
Applying a B2C approach to B2B e-commerce generally doesn't work. B2B e-commerce inherently requires more complex processes, rules, entities, and interfaces. B2B e-commerce solutions need to manage bulk orders, POs, contract pricing, approval workflows, and order quote support.
Most Microsoft .NET e-commerce platforms on the market do not have the flexible and modular architecture required for enterprise and mid-market companies. The architecture predefines the business constraints of the system and the way it works. Monolith solutions are not really scalable, with interconnected and interdependent components of the software.
Other Microsoft .NET e-commerce platforms on the market are also closed code solutions, only the vendor can adjust the software, and external developers cannot analyze the code, understand how the software works, or understand why it works the way it does. Developers must only rely on the information published by the vendor.
Without Virto Commerce, what are the consequences of these problems for companies using the Microsoft tech stack?
Companies in the B2B space are looking for enterprise e-commerce software solutions to solve their complicated challenges and to start bringing value as soon as possible. The same goes for B2C companies with complicated business models. Enterprises and mid-market companies are usually not ready to change their internal processes just because of software limitations. They expect implementation partners to deliver an enterprise e-commerce solution that fits their business precisely and can be delivered with short release cycles. Having only native B2C solutions in their portfolio, an implementation partner will lose B2B business opportunities.
The architecture predefines the business limitations of the system and the way of working with it. Monolith architecture does not allow to scale an application, scale development teams or delegate responsibility for feature development. It makes it impossible to adopt the software for an enterprise's complexity and mid-market companies' velocity of change. All this leads to the constant growth of risks and implementation costs. The more features you deliver, the slower you do it, the more money it takes. Together with the continuous growth of technical debt, it makes the cost of ownership too high.
Problems with closed code applications are well known to companies that work closely with business application implementation. Being totally dependent on a vendor's roadmap makes it impossible to make system changes in the right direction with the desired speed, as the vendor is more interested in delivering universal functionality required for thousands of his customers, rather than a function your customer personally requires. Moreover, since the code is closed – the system will never become 100% predictable for a developer.
How Virto Commerce's Microsoft .NET e-commerce platform solves these issues
The Virto Commerce platform is designed as B2B e-commerce software, mature and flexible enough to facilitate business for companies of different scales: disruptive startups, rapid growing mid-market-companies, and multi-national enterprises with high complexity. Virto Commerce's platform is a customizable and extensible platform, that was initially designed to implement complex custom B2B scenarios on top of it.
Thanks to the modern modular architecture, Virto Commerce's platform enables an agile way of doing implementation projects. It is possible to start acting locally (in terms of countries, functions, processes) and then gradually extend the solution, adding new features, functions, and integrations with fast release cycles. A company starts to get value fast and keeps implementation going quickly.
Virto Commerce is an open platform. The code is in GitHub. No hidden problems, no hidden technical dept, the product is open. Developers can read the code and make their decision based on what they see. It is easy to extend the system and adapt it to a customer’s business needs without any risks. We build relationships with our implementation partners and give them a voice when make decisions about roadmap priorities.
Download architecture overview